We explain what flexibility is in physical education, muscle flexibility and the types that exist. In addition, labor flexibility.
What is flexibility?
According to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, being flexible means having “… disposition to bend easily” and being “… susceptible to changes or variations according to circumstances or needs ”. That is to say that flexibility is the condition of those things, persons or ideas that, instead of being rigid or strict, are relatively adaptable to change.
Thus, when something has flexibility, we know that it can undergo a certain amount of change, whether or not it returns to its original shape. This is valid for certain materials, which can be bent, such as wire; or stretch, like rubber.
It is also a term used to describe people, both physically and mentally: a yoga practitioner will exhibit a lot of physical flexibility, and a tolerant person a lot of emotional flexibility, to name one example.
Flexibility should not be confused with similar concepts, such as elasticity, which always implies a return to the original position or form; nor to that of malleability, which suggests that the shape of something can be permanently modified at will.
Similarly, this term is used to refer to other situations and conditions in which flexibility is not literal, but figurative: flexible hours, flexible dates, flexible assignment, etc.
Flexibility in physical education
In the field of sport and the physical education, by flexibility is understood to be the ability of the joints of the human body to carry out movements with a great amplitude, that is, to allow certain movements deforming without injury or breakage.
Thus, a person with greater flexibility will be able to subject their body to postures and positions without suffering pain or physical limitations, while another who is not flexible will show more rigidity and difficulty in certain movements.
Flexibility is a physical ability, and like many others it can be developed through constant training and exercise. For example, activities like yoga stimulate her.
In fact, stretching is necessary prior to exercise as a way to warm up the joints and allow them a greater range of flexibility, thus reducing the chances of physical injury.
Types of muscle flexibility
Flexibility is directly dependent on the joints and muscles. Muscle fatigue, muscle fatigue also play a role in it. temperature environment (and muscular), and the age of the individual (the older, the less flexibility). But broadly, flexibility can be of two types: active or passive.
- Active flexibility. The maximum range of a joint or of movement that a person can carry out of their own free will, by contracting and straining the muscles.
- Passive flexibility. The maximum range of a joint or of motion that a person's body can achieve, subjected to external forces or with the help of an exercise partner.
Labor flexibility
In management, labor flexibility refers to labor dynamics or formal work. In this area, labor flexibility is the deregulation or liberalization of the labor market, that is, restrictions or limitations are removed from the possibility of hiring or firing employees by the companies. Business public or private in a country.
Labor flexibility is usually announced by the Condition, usually in situations where the need to grow the corporate sector is pressing. It usually runs for a certain period of time, as this flexibility can go against social or labor achievements gained through union struggle. Thus, it can be two types of flexibility: